Yes, Sprint is going to be launching three Android-based smartphones in the near future: the Samsung Transform, the Sanyo (Kyocera) Zio, and the LG Optimus S and they've pretty much just confirmed all of that. We'll go in order so we'll start with the Transform which will be available for $149.99 on a 2-year contract. This handset sports a 3.5-inch touchscreen display, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, an 800MHz CPU, and Android 2.2. This is a pretty good addition to their line-up, but if you want to go high-end then they still have Epic 4G for you. This will be available on October 10th.

Next up is the Sanyo (Kyocera) Zio, which is a pretty good handset as well. Sadly, it won't be available for free on a 2-year contract like we heard over the weekend. Instead, it'll be available for $99.99 on a 2-year contract, so it's not too bad. The last handset was pictured this morning (here) and it's the Optimus S which will launch for $49.99 on a 2-year contract.

All of these phones will be shipping with the recently announced Sprint ID, which is a name for a bunch of new settings, apps, widgets, and themes.

Yes, the picture above means that T-Mobile USA will be getting the LG Optimus T sometime in the future. This is basically the North American version of the Optimus One so it's got some mid-end level specs. On the front there's a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display, on the back you get a 3MP camera, and there's Android 2.2 along with Swype on-board as well. Don't forget that this handset should also feature WiFi calling which is great news.

Samsung may have their overpriced Galaxy Tab device but they haven't given up on netbooks yet. Today they announced the Samsung NF310 which sports the same design as the NF210 that the company already has. This netbook sports a 10.1-inch display with a 1,366 x 768 resolution, Intel integrated graphics, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB HDD, WiFi b/g/n support, a 6-cell battery, Windows 7 Starter Edition, and most importantly the dual-core Intel Atom N550 1.5GHz CPU. This netbook will be available this season for $399 so it's not a bad deal.

US Cellular has just joined the Galaxy S craze in the US of A. They have just announced the Samsung Mesmerize which is a Galaxy S phone so you already know the specs. A 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a 1GHz Hummingbird CPU, a 5MP camera, WiFi b/g/n / Bluetooth 3.0 support, a microSD card slot, and Android 2.1 with the Touchwiz UI. As usual, this smartphone will be getting the Android 2.2 upgrade "later this year". The Mesmerize will be available on October 27th for $199.99 on a 2-year contract after an $80 mail-in rebate.

The Verizon iPhone rumours will never die! This time coming from the WSJ is a report that Verizon will be getting the iPhone sometime in early 2011. The iPhone is said to be running on a Qualcomm chip but I think that's just referring to the cellular chip inside (not the CPU). Apparently, this smartphone will go into production later this year. Of course, Apple and Qualcomm declined to comment, so I guess we'll just have to wait a couple more months.

AT&T has just announced what they're saying is the world's thinnest handset with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. That is the Pantech Laser, which sports a thin 9.95mm thin body. That's definitely thin and it probably is the thinnest slider out there. Specs include a 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, a 3MP camera, and AT&T's Social Net app and Navigator. This handset will be available on October 17th for $99.99 on a 2-year contract after a $50 mail-in rebate. If only this handset ran Android.

Sprint should be announcing a few handsets at CTIA 2010 which is taking place right now and one of them has just been pictured. This is the LG Optimus S smartphone that will be running Android 2.2. Specs include a 3.2-inch touchscreen display, a 3.2MP AF camera, and a 600MHz CPU. It's definitely in the mid-level category and it will be available later this month for $49.99 on a 2-year contract after rebates. This should get official really soon.

According to what Mobile Syrup is hearing then Virgin Mobile in Canada could be one of the first carriers to launch the upcoming BlackBerry Bold 9780 from RIM. This smartphone is an update from the Bold 9700 with its 5MP camera with a flash, a QWERTY keyboard, a 2.4-inch display, and most importantly OS 6.0. Virgin Mobile is said to be releasing this smartphone on October 21st on their SuperTab (3-year) contract for $149.

Two handsets are headed to T-Mobile UK in the near future. The first one is above, the Nokia X3-02, and this sports a 2.4-inch QVGA touchscreen display, HSDPA / WiFi b/g/n support, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 5MP camera, a microSD card slot, Bluetooth, and the S40 OS. This Touch and Type will be available later this month and in the mean time you can go to T-Mobile's website (here) and register for updates.

The other handset that's headed to the carrier is the Sony Ericsson Yendo which should be available sometime next month (November). This phone packs a 2.6-inch QVGA touchscreen display, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 2MP camera, Bluetooth support, and a microSD card slot (2GB pre-installed). Check it out on T-Mobile UK's website (here) as well.

At CEATEC which is going on right now, Hitachi has announced and shown off what could be a display for a tablet in the future. This 6.6-inch IPS (UXGA) display reportedly features a 1,600 x 1,200 resolution, which is insane and that's 302ppi out there for whoever wants to know. Other specs of this display are 400 nits of brightness, an 800:1 contrast ratio, and a 4:3 aspect ratio. Hmm, 4:3 is the same as the iPad so maybe Apple could be launching a smaller iPad in the future? We'll have to wait and see which company takes advantage of this.

Reuters has just mentioned something that everyone should be interested in. They've mentioned that HP has announced that new WebOS smartphones will be available in early 2011. Of course, specs are unknown right now but maybe it'll be the WebOS 2.0 packing Roadrunner smartphone that has been rumoured a bit. HP did mention that "phones" will be available in early 2011 so we'll likely be seeing more than one from HP / Palm, which should be interesting.

Huawei may have a smartphone that you might want to check out soon. It's already available in China but it looks like it will be hitting Cricket in the USA as well. The phone we're talking about here is the C8600, which will be launching as the Huawei Ascend. The Ascend features a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display, a 3.2MP camera, EV-DO Rev. A connectivity, and Android 2.1. That's some pretty decent specs when you consider the price. This smartphone will cost you just $150 contract-free, so I think that it's definitely worth the buy - or at least, try.